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Winterkill

Review

What’s an adventurous girl supposed to do in a confined village? Emmeline is an explorer --- an explorer who won’t listen to the orders of her settlement leaders and is constantly committing wayward acts that make others look down upon her. She doesn’t mind what people think of her, though. After all, Emmeline and her family are already “Stained” due to her grandmother’s actions. Things seem to turn around for her and her family after the settlement leader approaches her with a marriage proposal… except that she has already fallen for someone else. Before making the decision of a lifetime, Emmeline ventures back into the woods where she hopes to uncover the secrets of her grandmother and the village.

WINTERKILL by Kate A. Boorman is a remarkable novel that drew me in from the start. Boorman uses very unique language which allows readers to have a more vivid and captivating experience of the story. I also really liked that there was a bit of French weaved into the dialogue because it added to the village’s overall setting. Although the plot moves rather slowly in the beginning, it quickly speeds up halfway into the book. In fact, near the end I could hardly put the book down.

WINTERKILL not only has an engaging atmosphere and beautiful writing, but also very relatable characters. It is a must-read that will keep you thinking for days.

All the characters have a certain depth to them. They were very well developed and had realistic reasons behind all their actions. I couldn’t even fully hate the villain because even he deserved a bit of sympathy. The young love is also very adorable and genuine --- I was rooting for them from the start!

Another great part of the book is the mystery. In the beginning, I was a little confused by the specific names they used like “the malmaci” and “The Lost People,” but I quickly caught on as the story progressed. Eventually, the clues are pieced together and the mystery is solved in an unexpected way.

To sum it up, this book was a very refreshing YA novel. I never thought I’d enjoy it as much as I did and I’m glad I had a chance to read it. WINTERKILL not only has an engaging atmosphere and beautiful writing, but also very relatable characters. It is a must-read that will keep you thinking for days.